PREVENTING premature deaths and improving the health of lambs through vaccinations was a major point of discussion at the recent Sheep Health Workshop at Katanning.
The WAFarmers-hosted workshops at Gairdner, Ravensthorpe and Katanning through mid-April, featured presentations and demonstrations that increased awareness of sheep health issues, disease prevention and identification information.
Attendees gained a better understanding about some key sheep diseases which could cause considerable problems for businesses, participated in practical demonstrations on how diseases reduce the production of an animal and learned about applying Livestock Production Assurance on-farm.
Presentations were also delivered by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Integrity Systems Company, Livestock Biosecurity Network, Zoetis, Australian Wool Innovation and AgLive, all of which shared insights into the best ways to manage sheep health and identify diseases.
Lamb survival rates were also highlighted as a huge issue across Australia, costing the industry hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
When speaking about Ovine Johne’s Disease (OJD), Ben Fletcher, Zoetis, said “about 90 per cent of lamb mortalities die in the first 48 hours of birth in Australia”.
“Death of lambs in the first week costs the industry about $540 million every year,” Mr Fletcher said.
He said “vaccinations improve the flock” and reduced the risk of lambs being born with or being infected early on by diseases.
Mr Fletcher promoted the product Gudair, which he said “reduces mortalities by 90pc and decreases shedding (of disease onto pastures) by 90pc”.
He said the product delayed the onset of clinical disease and death by 12 months where the vaccine was administered before exposure.
“It is cheaper to protect against a disease than to treat it afterwards,” Mr Fletcher said.
He said producers needed to be aware that research into OJD showed that “it can survive 18 months on a farm” before the data goes sketchy.
OJD is becoming increasingly common with “upwards of 140 flocks in WA infected” by the disease.
“For everyone we know of there’s three others infected,” he said.
OJD can be on a property for five to 10 years before being detected.
Mr Fletcher said when buying stock farmers had to ensure that the sheep were vaccinated – or at least are quarantined and treated before including them into the flock.
He said farmers had to know what they were buying, ensuring that boundary fences were adequate and if agisting “beware agisting sheep that may carry the disease”.
“Vaccinate stock at between four and 16 weeks and any stock being kept more than 12 months, as well as replacements,” he said.
Mr Fletcher said two doses of the vaccine cost about $1, but that would provide 52 weeks of coverage.
“With lamb prices at about $6 a kilogram you can recover that cost with one day of grazing and weight gain,” he said.
During the day’s presentations producers were also encouraged to use Commodity Vendor Declaration forms when purchasing feed to ensure they weren’t bringing problems onto their farms – with some producers having experienced Annual Ryegrass Toxicity after having purchased hay for feed.
The Subsidised Disease Investigation program was also highlighted for producers who had issues with animal health.
A $300 subsidy towards the veterinary investigation fee is available for producers and DPIRD will pay for lab testing fees (which generally cost from $800-$1000).
There is also a Ewe Abortion Program available for producers who desire access to a subsidised sampling kit to test their ewes.
Scanning and marking numbers were also important in gathering information about the number of lamb loses – although that alone will not provide the cause of the deaths.
DPIRD Diagnostic and Laboratory Services investigates cases of infertility or abortion in sheep every year in order to support Australia’s export markets.
It does this by testing for and ruling out trade-sensitive exotic diseases such as enzootic abortion of ewes, caused by Chlamydophilia abortus, and Salmonella abortus.
Investigating abortion and infertility may also show a zoonotic disease (one that can infect people) is causing the problem, which is important so that farmers can take steps to protect their health.
Workshop attendees also had a hands on experience looking at the effect of measles, OJD and arthritis on internal sheep organs (laid out on a table) and discussed how the diseases can cause profit losses when processed and even be rejected by some international markets.
